


Two Words to Change Everything

by rosesparks



Category: Broadchurch
Genre: Angst, Teen Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:01:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23861218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosesparks/pseuds/rosesparks
Summary: Daisy has something to tell her dad, but telling him will change everything.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 32





	Two Words to Change Everything

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't posted any fanfiction in almost three years, but apparently quarantine is making me revisit things I wrote months ago. This hasn't been beta'd so any mistakes are mine.

“What’s going on?” her dad asked, sitting down on the couch opposite her.

“I hate it here,” she said. He couldn’t know the truth. She couldn’t handle him knowing the whole truth, even though she knew that he would find out eventually. She was still angry with her mum, but she knew her mum would react better to the news than her dad. If she could just get out of Broadchurch and back to her mum, she could find some way to make all of this work out.

“Don’t say that,” her dad said. “You’ve got to give it a chance.”

“I have,” she said. “I’ve given it a chance and I can’t stand it here. Especially not now.”

“What do you mean not now?”

She knew she had slipped up. She should have known. He was a detective and always picked up on those sort of things. It had made it impossible to hide anything from him, or her mum for that matter, when she was little.

She shook her head.

“Daze? What’s going on?” he asked.

She couldn’t meet his eyes. She couldn’t bare to see the inevitable disappointment that would come with him hearing exactly what’s going on. “I’m pregnant,” she mumbled, so softly even she couldn’t hear it.

“What?” he asked.

Daisy took a deep breath. “I’m pregnant.”

There was silence. Daisy knew she should look up and at least try to gauge what his reaction would be, but she couldn’t. She knew it would be disappointment, anger, frustration, and the list went on. She couldn’t handle seeing that in his face.

“Are you sure?” he finally asked.

She nodded, not trusting her voice. Four drug store pregnancy tests and a visit to the doctor this afternoon had confirmed her worst fear. She was pregnant. She was sixteen and she was going to have a baby.

“Can you at least look at me?” he asked.

She didn’t want to. She didn’t want to see his face, but she had no choice. Slowly she looked up at him. “I know you’re mad at me,” Daisy started.

“Mad? Maybe,” he said. “Disappointed is a better word. I thought we taught you better than that.”

“You did, but then there was this party and…” she trailed off, not wanting to get into the details. She didn’t want to talk about how it was all a one night stand. How she hadn’t really known the guy until that night. How they hadn’t said two words to each other after that night, despite seeing each other every day at school. How he didn’t believe her when she told him and instead called her a whore for sleeping around. How the whole school thought that’s all she was: a whore who went around having one night stands with guys she didn’t know.

“Does the father know?”

Daisy nodded, surprised that it had taken this long to bring up the father. She wouldn’t have been surprised if he would have gone out and chased him down right then.

But her dad surprised her and didn’t ask for more details. “Does your mum know?”

Daisy swallowed hard. She shook her head. She hadn’t figured out how to tell her mum the news either. She had been hoping to find a way to tell her first so that her mum would be there to help soften the blow when she told her dad. So much for that.

“You should call her. Tell her.”

“Is she going to take me away?”

Her dad didn’t answer. He just pulled her into a tight hug. For the first time since finding out she was pregnant, Daisy let herself cry.

***

The phone call to her mum hadn’t been easy. Her mum had been shocked by Daisy’s admission and had insisted that she was going to drive to Broadchurch that night. Daisy wanted to tell her no, but part of her hoped that if her mum came to Broadchurch, she would take Daisy with her when she went back to Sandbrook.

Her dad had sent her upstairs, telling her that she needed to get some sleep, even if her mum was coming. Reluctantly she agreed.

***

It was nearly midnight when there was a knock on the door. Alec didn’t have to wonder who it was. Daisy had told him that her mum was going to come tonight. Alec walked over and opened the door.

“You didn’t have to come tonight, Tess.”

“Yes I did,” she said. “I let her move in with you and the next thing I know she’s pregnant. You’re supposed to be watching her.”

“Keep your voice down,” Alec said. “Let her sleep.”

“Oh, so now you care about her,” Tess said.

“Don’t start.” The last thing he wanted to do was start a fight with his ex-wife about his parenting style.

“I don’t understand how you didn’t notice,” she said. “Well actually, no. Let me guess. There was a case.”

Alec didn’t respond. Of course there was a case. There was always a case. That came with the job of detective inspector. Most of the cases in a town like Broadchurch were minor and didn’t involve much, but this rape case had been pushing him extra hard.

“Alec, I know you think your job is important—“

“It is important,” Alec argued.

“But it’s not more important than your daughter!”

“I told you to keep it down,” Alec hissed. He took a step forward, forcing Tess to take a step back.. He shut the door behind him, hoping that it at least be enough to not wake Daisy.

“I thought that by letting her come here, she’d be safe.”

“She is safe,” Alec said.

“She’s pregnant. At sixteen!” Tess argued. “You were supposed to watch her. To protect her. If I would have known that you were going to just let her run around without any oversight, I wouldn’t have let her come and live with you.”

“She was the one who wanted to leave.”

“And who’s fault is that?” Tess asked.

Alec stared at her in disbelief. “You honestly think I told her?”

“Who else would have?”

“She figured it out herself,” Alec said. “She’s a lot smarter than that, Tess. You know that.”

Tess shook her head. “I want to talk to her.”

“It’s nearly midnight,” Alec argued. “Let her sleep and you can talk to her in the morning.”

“I’m her mum.”

“And I’m her dad and right now what she needs is sleep,” Alec said. He took a deep breath. “Look. Tomorrow morning all three of us can talk about it and we can figure out what’s going to happen next.”

Tess didn’t look pleased, but she agreed.

“Do you need a place to stay?” Alec asked. “I can sleep on the sofa.”

Tess shook her head. “I’ll get a room at the inn. I’ll be back at eight.” Without another word, Tess turned on her heal and walked back to her car. Alec watched as she got in and drove off. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When did everything get so complicated?

***

The next morning, Alec woke up early and the events of last night came flooding back to him. His daughter, his Daisy, was pregnant. Tess was at the inn, but promised to be back the next morning. It wasn’t going to be pretty.

Alec reached over and grabbed the alarm clock. 6:07. He still had time before Tess would get here. That would be enough time to look at some of the case files. At least then he might be able to take his mind off everything else. He got up, got dressed and went down to the kitchen. He made a cup of tea and grabbed the first file on the stack he had brought home. He had planned to go over them last night, but Daisy’s bombshell announcement derailed all of those plans.

“Morning, Dad.”

Alec looked up. He had gotten so lost in his files that he didn’t hear Daisy get up. “How’d you sleep?”

“Like shit. Is mum here?”

He almost corrected her on her language, but then realized what was the point. She was pregnant, what did it matter if she cursed?

“She’s at the inn,” Alec explained. “She said she’d be over at eight. The three of us need to talk.”

“Was she mad?” Daisy asked.

“I think she just wants to talk. I think she’s disappointed,” Alec said.

“I know I screwed up. I didn’t mean for it to happen.”

“I know you didn’t,” Alec said. “But it did and now we just have to deal with it.”

Daisy was silent. Alec knew she didn’t want to deal with it, just like how she didn’t want to deal with all sorts of things growing up: difficult school projects, friend drama, her mother after she found out that she was the one who messed up the Sandbrook case instead of her dad.

“We’ve still got almost thirty minutes before your mum gets here. How about I make breakfast?”

Daisy laughed. “Dad, you can’t cook.”

“I can make eggs,” he said. “Or just toast. Whatever you want.”

In the end, Daisy decided on eggs, probably because she didn’t trust her dad to cook anything more complicated than that. Before either of them were ready, there was a knock on the door. “Put your dishes in the sink. I’ll get it,” Alec said.

He let Tess in. She looked just as angry as last night.

“I know you’re mad, but don’t take it out on her,” Alec warned.

“I’m not mad at her,” Tess snapped.

Alec didn’t respond. He just led her to the kitchen where Daisy was sat at the table, picking nervously at a finger nail.

“Mum?”

“Hey, sweetie,” Tess said.

“I’m sorry,” Daisy said.

Alec stayed back, letting Tess and Daisy have a moment. They needed it before they could even begin to start thinking about what was going to happen next.

That was the question though. What was going to happen next? Alec knew that Tess was going to want to take Daisy back to Sandbrook with her. In his head, he knew that would probably be the best, but selfishly, he wanted Daisy to stay with him. He had grown accustomed to her presence and didn’t want to think about what this place would be like if she wasn’t here with him. Still, it would be Daisy’s decision. If she wanted to go back to Sandbrook with her mum, she would have to let her go, no matter how much he didn’t want to.

“Dad?” Daisy asked, pulling Alec from his thoughts.

“The three of us need to talk,” he said. He moved into the kitchen and took one of the empty chairs at the dining room table. “Daisy, it’s your choice.”

Daisy was silent for a moment. “I want to go back with mum,” Daisy said softly.

Alec felt his heart shatter. He knew it was coming, but that didn’t make it any easier. Hearing Daisy say those words made it real. She wanted to leave him. She wanted to go back to Sandbrook.

Alec nodded just as Tess said, “We can start packing your things today.”

“Wait,” Alec said.

“She just said she wants to come back to Sandbrook,” Tess warned.

“I know,” Alec said. “I just want to make sure she’s going back for the right reasons.”

“What are you talking about?” Tess asked.

Alec ignored her and turned to Daisy. “Are you going because you think that’s going to be the best place for you or because you’re trying to run from Broadchurch?” Alec asked. “Because if you’re just running from Broadchurch, I want you to know that going back to Sandbrook isn’t going to solve anything.”

Daisy was silent and Alec knew that he was making her think. “It’s the right thing,” Daisy finally said.

Alec nodded. He didn’t believe her and knew that deep down she was running, but he wouldn’t be able to stop her. Especially not with Tess here. Tess didn’t seem to care about making the right decision or the easy decision, she just wanted what was convenient for her. Alec didn’t want to hold it against her, but it was difficult.

“If you’re sure,” Alec said.

“I’m sure,” Daisy said.

“I want you to know though, Daize, no matter what happens, you’ll always be welcome back here,” Alec said. “No matter what happens.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

“Come on,” Tess said. “We can start getting your things together.”

Tess led Daisy off. As soon as they were out of the kitchen, Alec rested his elbows on the table and placed his head in his hands. He didn’t want this to happen. He didn’t want Daisy to leave him. Not like this.

There was a knock on the door. Alec looked at it, not sure who would be calling this early on a Saturday. Regardless, he got up and went over and pulled it open. Ellie Miller was standing there.

“Miller? It’s a Saturday.”

“I know,” she said. “But I was hoping that we could talk. I was going through the case files and—“

“Now’s not really a good time.”

Ellie looked taken aback. “You’re saying no to working on a case?”

“Not saying no,” Alec said. “Just not now.”

“Is everything ok?”

No. Everything was not ok, but he didn’t want to talk to Ellie about it now. He didn’t want to talk to anyone about it now. “Make all the notes you want,” Alec said. “We’ll discuss it first thing on Monday.”

“Are you sure you’re ok?” Ellie asked.

“I’ll see you Monday, Miller,” Alec said. He stepped back and closed the door, knowing that Ellie would get the hint. While she could be a gigantic annoyance, she always knew when to give him the space he needed. He knew he wouldn’t be able to hide the truth from her forever, but it could wait a few days.

***

Between Alec, Tess, and Daisy, it didn’t take long to pack up all of her belongings. Tess went back to the inn to pick up her car so they could load it, leaving Alec and Daisy alone for a few minutes.

“You’re sure about this?” Alec asked, finally breaking the silence.

“I’m sure,” Daisy said. “It’ll be easier with mum around. No offense.”

“And you’re sure you’re not just trying to run away from what happened here?” Alec asked. “Because moving back with your mum isn’t going to change what happened. You’ll still be pregnant and people will know. You’ll have to answer all those questions back in Sandbrook too.”

Daisy was silent.

“Look, Daisy,” Alec said. “I know I haven’t been the best dad and I know I’m not around as much as I should be, but I love you, Daisy. I love you so much, no matter what happens.”

“I love you too, Dad.”

The door opened and Tess walked in. “Let’s load up your stuff and we can be back to Sandbrook by six.”

***

The house was quiet without Daisy. He tried to convince himself it was like she was out with friends or at some party, but it was no use. The house didn’t feel the same without Daisy in it, but Alec knew he would have to get used to it. Daisy had gone to live with her mum and she wasn’t coming back.


End file.
